Popular Participation in Swiss National Council Elections

It is difficult to compare popular participation in Swiss elections with that of any other democratic country in Europe. The smallness of the country, the rugged nature of the land, the diversity of languages, the strength of the traditions of local self-government, the variety of political institutions, and the multiplicity of elections make Switzerland a unique place for political experiments. The composition of the Swiss electorate is very similar to that of the French. Every Swiss male citizen, twenty-one years of age or over, is allowed to vote, unless excluded by the laws of the canton in which he resides. However, the duties of the French and Swiss electors are far from being alike. In France the electors vote every four years for the deputies, while in Switzerland there are elections on federal questions every year, to say nothing of the cantonal and municipal elections. The elections to the lower house of the Swiss national legislature, the National Council, are held every three years. These elections do not have the same importance as English or French legislative elections, because the Swiss constitution limits the powers of the national legislators. Furthermore, the Swiss plural executive system detracts from the dramatic quality of the National Council elections. The executive is not responsible to the lower house as in countries having the parliamentary form of government. Making allowance for the fact that some of the cantons have compulsory voting, one might expect to find a lower record for participation in elections to the Swiss National Council than in elections to the French Chamber of Deputies, the latter body having undivided national power and, in addition, control over the executive.